


Protected

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Drama, First Times, M/M, Series: The Stalker Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 03:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/793503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair is getting letters and calls, and Jim's protective nature kicks in.  Three stories all together, one plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protected

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost of a series rewritten. This is the gentler 

## Protected

by Sarah Saint Ives

version of a dark and troubled story I wrote days after I recovered from a month-long coma. 

* * *

Blair winced in the direction of the clock. Twelve fifteen. The big detective had opened the door to him, his face dark and dangerous. 

"So. You finally decided to come home." 

The anthropologist's full lower lip trembled. 

"Blair, you should understand how I feel. Since that day we pulled you out of that water, I......I worry about you. I thought I'd lost you." His pleading tone suddenly took a different direction and he slapped the wall beside Blair's head. The offending hand fell onto the cornered man's shoulder as he shouted, "Did you hear from the stalker today?" 

Blair drew up in apprehension, watched his face for signs of impending violence. He spoke as calmly as possible. "No, not today. Last night. And I _do_ understand, Jim. I'm sorry." 

Jim wrapped his large hands around his upper arms. "Blair, look at me. I want you safe, and I can't keep you safe if you won't listen to me. I asked you to be home by 11:30 and to call if anything came up. I can't watch you twenty four hours a day. I wish I could, but I just can't." 

Blair gazed up at him with wide blue eyes. "I'm fine, Jim. Nobody's going to hurt me. Please, let the past go and let's get on with our lives. I'm alive, I'm fine, and you don't have to be so over-protective." 

"Yes, I do." Jim said. "I want you safe. So until we're sure about this stalker, just do what I tell you, okay? Just come directly home from the university, no detours. No late nights." 

The guide's face fell. "Okay. Until you find this guy. But you can't expect me to live like a grounded teen-ager forever." 

"However long it takes is how long you're grounded, do you hear me? And you _be_ here when you're supposed to be. Understood?" Jim forced a placating smile. "Just so you do what I say." The hand squeezed the arm warningly. "I mean it, Chief." 

Blair nodded reluctantly, so after a relieved sigh, Jim patted his curly hair and went for a beer, the subject dropped. He sat on the couch, propped up his feet and turned on the TV. "Simon says hi." 

"Hi." Blair waved his fingers, a silly, bittersweet smile on his expressive face. "I'll try to drop by tomorrow and see him. I've been really busy at the university lately." 

"Doing what, Blair? What, exactly, are you working on?" 

"I'm tutoring some students who are about to fail their classes." 

"Are you getting paid for that?" 

"Well, no. But that's not the point. I'm not getting paid to be your guide, either, but you need me and I'm here." 

"You're here because I need you?" Jim gave him a sideways glance. "I thought you were here because you wanted to be." 

"I _do_ want to be here......" 

Jim held up a hand. "You're right. I need you. I depend on you, and you depend on me. So stop trying to make me feel unessential and go do your homework." 

Blair stared at him. "I'm not trying to make you feel unessential, Jim! What's the matter with you?" 

Jim leaned back, a forearm resting over his eyes. "Go to your room, Blair." he said. 

Blair hesitated, mildly shocked at the parental role Jim had assumed, then turned and strode purposefully to his bedroom. The phone rang as he slammed the door behind him. Jim reached for it. "Ellison." 

"Hi, can I talk to Blair?" The detective sat upright. It was the voice. That voice that had plagued them with calls and left messages in every corner of Blair Sandburg's life. The stalker. 

"No, you son of a bitch. You can't talk to Blair." Jim angrily hung up the phone. Damn it! It was all this asshole's fault! The arguments, the worries, everything was this guy's fault! Jim was on Blair's shitlist because of this guy! He wished his Sentinel senses would allow him to reach through the phone and punch his fucking teeth out. 

The guy had been stalking his partner for weeks now, his calls and messages coming more and more frequently. Jim had had enough of him. Blair didn't seem to think he was dangerous, but Jim wasn't willing to take risks with his friend's life. He looked to see if the door was locked before he closed his eyes again. He had to be at work at six. 

* * *

Fifteen hours was a long shift. Jim was glad the workday was done. Finally home, he crashed on the couch and slept until nearly one o'clock in the morning. A passing aircraft woke him to a quiet loft. He sat up and, dialing up his Sentinel hearing, checked Blair's room. Not home yet. Shit! 

The key in the door alerted him. Stopping in mid-dial, he put down the phone and returned to the couch to greet his disobedient housemate. 

In the dark, Blair quietly closed the door behind him and attempted to tiptoe through. He stopped and sighed as the lamp flipped on and Jim's grim blue eyes trained on him. After a moment's hesitation, he faced the big man with an apologetic shrug. "Jim, you have to understand....these students I'm tutoring are taking a lot of my time! Tomorrow is their big test! I couldn't just abandon them." 

"You ever think of giving me a call?" Jim said, running fretful fingers through his short hair. "Blair, I'm at the end of my rope here. I don't know what to do or say to make you listen. I've considered a lot of things, even putting your ass in protective custody, but none of that would be necessary if you'd just do what I tell you. Did the stalker call you today?" 

"He sent me a letter." 

"Do you have it with you?" 

Blair nodded anxiously and set his bookbag down, dug through it until he came up with the letter. He handed it to Jim. As the detective took it, he also took the hand holding it and drew the younger man to the couch beside him. He read the scribbled words and discreetly checked his partner's heartrate and respiration. He was obviously a nervous wreck. He read aloud, "Blair: It begins to look as if you're never going to let me in your life, so I must become more assertive. I want you and I will not be put off any longer." 

Blair was biting his fingernails. 

"He's getting desperate, Chief. It looks like he's ready to make a move on you. You stay in tomorrow. If you have to go somewhere, I'll go with you or have somebody from the bullpen pick you up." 

"Tomorrow is test day." 

"You have a test?" 

"I have to _give_ a test!" 

"I'll come with you." 

"Jim, that'll be distracting to a roomful of stressed-out students." 

"Why would it be distracting?" 

"Jim.......whether you realize your dominating powers or not, you are a very intimidating character. You're big, you're tough, you're scary. They won't be able to concentrate if they think they're being monitored by Super Cop." 

"Super Cop?" Jim twitched at the title. "Okay, I don't have to sit in the room with you. I'll sit outside. I just don't want you left unprotected." 

Blair nodded resignedly. "Okay." 

"Now, back to the subject at hand. You were supposed to be home by 11:30." 

"Jim, I got involved in my work. You, of all people, should know what that's like. Please just let it go. I'm fine. I'm home, no harm done." 

Jim shook his head. "This is the last time, Chief. Don't let it happen again. I mean it." 

The guide swallowed hard, wishing he had the guts to ask what the consequences would be for noncompliance of the demands. "I'll do my very best to be home on time tomorrow." he promised. "Good night, Jim." He escaped into his room and locked the door. 

The following day, work called Jim Ellison away from the university during the big test. He had another policeman stationed at the door to Sandburg's classroom. The case was a homicide, a bad one. The victim had been mutilated, so he was glad his partner was otherwise involved. Blair had a weak stomach, and the sight of the mangled corpse would have sent him puking. It was hours before Jim managed to break loose from work and go home again, nearly midnight when he finally walked in the front door. 

Blair wasn't home. Jim dialed his cell phone and let it ring twenty times. No answer. He called the policeman he had sent to stand guard over him. The cop had been replaced by another cop, and that cop had lost Sandburg in a crowd at the university. No one had seen him since. 

Jim was very upset. He called everyone he knew at the university but no one had seen Blair for several hours. He called Captain Simon Banks and told him the situation. 

"I'll put out an APB on him." Simon said. "The stalker could have grabbed him." 

Jim ran anxious fingers through his short hair and glanced at the clock. "I should have been with him, Simon. I should have been there." 

"Jim, you can't be with him twenty-four/seven! I understand, believe me, but there's just no way you can be there every second to protect him.....especially when he won't do what you tell him!" 

A key turned in the door. "Simon, he's home." he said softly. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later." Without waiting for a response, he hung up and crossed the room to open the door. 

In his own home, Simon Banks sighed at the phone. "Don't be too hard on him, Jim." he muttered. 

Blair, key in hand, looked up at his partner, struck with sudden guilt and fear. "Jim...." 

Jim grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him inside, slammed the door behind him. "Where were you?" he asked. 

"I'm sorry, Jim. I was in the library. I'm sorry. I know I should have called. I got too...." 

"I know. Too _involved_. You didn't answer your phone, you didn't call. You gave the cop I assigned to you the slip and hid out in the library. Blair, this is the last straw. Come over here." Jim towed him to the couch and shoved him down. "I'm _tired_ of this shit. It's not going to happen again, do you hear me?" 

"It won't, I promise." Blair said quickly, watching with wide eyes as the bigger man attempted to control his temper. "Jim..." 

"Blair. I've tried everything I know and you're still not listening to me. It's time I made a lasting impression on you." 

"Jim, I won't be late again, I promise." Trembling in apprehension, Blair raised his hands to touch his arms. "Please, listen to me. Listen to me!" 

Jim gazed at him. "I'm listening." 

"No, you're not! What are you planning to do to me here? Are you gonna hit me?" 

Jim's blue eyes were disturbed. "Hit you? No, Blair, I'm not gonna hit you." 

A sudden flash of anger in Blair's eyes made the cop frown in puzzlement. "Why not? I've done everything wrong! I totally ignored everything you asked me to do! I wasn't home on time several nights in a row! I made you worry! And you're not going to punish me for that? Don't you want to beat my ass?" 

Jim's confusion was growing. "I want you to do as you're told, Chief, but don't you think you're a little too old for a spanking?" 

"I was once told I was never too old to get my ass beat." 

"Who told you that? Somebody who beat you?" Jim walked away from him, then returned, hands outstretched, imploring. "Blair, I love you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. You have to do what I ask of you....for your own protection. Be home when you're supposed to be or call me to tell where you are. I just want to know that you're safe! That's all I'm asking. It's not that much extra trouble, is it?" 

"No, it's not." The anthropologist sighed. "I'm sorry, Jim. I didn't mean to make you worry." Blair fidgeted. "So.....what are you gonna do?" 

"I think we're talking about a case of permanent grounding here." 

"You mean you want me to sit in my room for the rest of my life?" 

"Yep. That's what I mean." 

"Jim, I'd rather you beat my ass. I can't sit in there forever. I have a life, you know." 

"You _won't_ have a life if that asshole gets his hands on you! He could _kill_ you, Blair! Do you get my meaning? Is this sinking into that thick skull of yours? You're usually so smart. What's the matter with you, anyway?" 

"Nothing." Blair had become sullen. "So what are you saying?" 

Jim shook his head. "I'm saying that you're not to go out alone again until we find this guy. If you have to go to the university, you'll go on the arm of a cop, and you'll stay with him until you get back to me. Is that clear?" 

"Yeah, it's clear. But I don't have to be at school for a few days, so I can stay in." 

"Good. That makes it simpler. You can come to work with me so I can keep an eye on you." 

"I'm looking forward to it." Blair said. "You know the police work is important to me." 

"Yeah, I know." Jim dropped down onto the couch and picked up the remote control. "You told me. It's a roller coaster." 

"No, Jim, the police work isn't the roller coaster." 

"That's what you said before. That if you stopped working with me, it would be like getting off the roller coaster and riding a merry-go-round the rest of your life." 

"Yeah, that's exactly what it would be like. But it's not the police work I was talking about." 

"Then, what?" 

"Being with _you_ , Jim." 

"The Sentinel research? That's the roller coaster?" 

Blair rolled his eyes. "Nope. Nothing to do with the Sentinel thing, either. No, Jim, it's you! Being with you! I thought you understood that." 

Jim gazed at him, felt confusion and hope becoming a tornado in his tortured brain. "You may have to explain that, Blair. Excuse me for being so dense." 

"Jim," Blair's patience was strained. "I love you, too." 

The big man got to his feet and paced. After several blank-eyed trips back and forth in front of the TV, he paused and stared, blank-eyed, at a coffee-stain on the carpet. 

"Jim! Jim! Snap out of it! Come on, man! Look at me!" Blair was attached to his arm, shaking him hard. "Jim! Come on!" 

Jim looked around at him and realized what had happened. 

"You zoned, man!" Blair said. He wrapped his arms around the bigger man and held on for dear life. 

Jim hugged him hard. "God, Blair, so it's mutual?" 

"Yeah, man. It's mutual. I know you love me. Until you refused to beat my ass, I thought you meant you loved me in a father-type way. This feels so good. I needed this hug." 

Jim squeezed the precious package even tighter, only released him to allow him to breathe again. "Don't ever leave me, Blair. You don't know how much I need you in my life." 

"Only as much as I need you in mine." Blair said, and kissed his jaw. "I'm here as long as you'll let me stay." 

Jim captured his mouth and kissed him feverishly, tangling fingers in the long curls, wrapping himself around his guide. He felt himself zoning again on the taste of that kiss, on the texture of that hair, on the utter devotion bursting forth from his long-suffered heart. After many kisses, after lingering caresses, he drew back to smile down into those trusting blue eyes with tender affection. "It's late. Let's go to bed." He glanced to the upper floor in invitation. 

The older man's arm closed around his waist on the way up the steps. Demurely, Blair placed a hand across Jim's back. 

They undressed and Blair bent to fold back the covers. "So, you're not mad at me any more?" he asked. 

Jim took the opportunity and gave his bare butt a sound swat. "No." he answered as he rolled with him into the king-sized bed and pulled the cover over them. "Not mad." 

Blair rubbed. "Ow." he complained, but kissed him and spoke softly, "My blessed protector loves me." 

"Love you." Jim confirmed and kissed him again, wrapped him in a very close, comfortable embrace. "Now, go to sleep." 

"But..." 

"No more buts. We'll take the roller coaster ride some other time. Go to sleep." 

Blair sighed wearily. "Good night, Jim." 

"Night, babe." 

end 

Saintives@goplay.com 

* * *

End Protected. 


End file.
